The 2:35 bell rings.Some 50% of
the Pioneers frantically spill out of their last period classes, push and
shove their way to a locker (not necessarily their own), and hasten to escape
the confines of the building.Another
48% grab their team bags and are off to participate in one of our prestigious
sport programs.

Taking into account floor friction, air resistance, and human body density in
the hallways, it can be calculated to two significant digits that the school
becomes pretty much empty by 2:45.

And that’s when the crackdown takes place.

It starts off almost imperceptibly.As
an occasional late straggler plods through the hallway at 2:46, he may notice
a custodian emerging sinisterly from the Foods Room, giving the wanderer dirty
looks, as though to say, “Whatcha still doin’ here, lil’ boy?Tryin’ to plant a bomb in one of da lockers, are ya?”A few more janitors mushroom at critical intersections of the building.Even a comatose man can sense that something is brewing.

Then, the big surprise comes.You
are navigating towards your locker, thinking that maybe it’s time to go home
after all.The hot, stuffy air caustically gnaws at your eyes, and you
cannot help but rub your eye sockets with a fist.And when you open your eyes again, you behold the long
stretch of hallway in front of you mystically cordoned off by steel-reinforced
cage bars.

You shake your head in disbelief, trying to ward off this nightmare.You turn around, hoping to find another way around, but it is too late.Everywhere you look, the hallways are barricaded, chained, and locked.All the custodians, having fulfilled their lock-down mission, already
vanished into thin air until 7:00 a.m. next morning.You are the only one left, frightened and alone, and no one will hear
your desperate cries for help.

But enough of the dramatization.Seriously,
folks, what is the big deal with locking off hallways?If this is the administration’s attempt at protecting the school from
those notorious gangs and terrorist organizations we have running amok in New
Providence, then they’re not exactly succeeding.With clubs, sports, music and drama rehearsals, and other
functions running at the school building practically 24-7, the gymnasium doors
are almost always kept open, if not the main entrance itself.Sure, entering from across the gym and seeing metal bars separating the
hallway from the rest of the building looks daunting, but anyone with enough
sense and experience can just cut through the girls’ locker room to get to
the other side.

Clearly, with the aforementioned activities constantly going on, the school
cannot and should not be kept locked all day long.Students, coaches and teachers must be allowed to circulate freely,
right?Vandalism shouldn’t be a problem, since there’s nothing
in the hallways themselves worth vandalizing and the rooms are locked down by
individual teachers at their own discretion.As for the lockers, if the students care enough for their metal
treasure chests’ contents, they should make use of a wonderful little
personal property protection unit better known as a lock.Besides, vandalism can occur during school hours just as successfully
as late in the evening.So then
why the heck are students continuously thwarted with barricaded halls?

Doors are another thing.Have you
ever had to plod through the snow in freezing blizzard wind halfway around the
building just because most of the entrances were locked?Late at night, this might be excusable, but right before and after
school, when students are going in and out, having the doors’ bulletproof
glass cackle at their futile attempts to get inside is frustrating and
infuriating, to say the least.

We are expected to show up for school every weekday.Furthermore, we are encouraged to get involved in after-school
activities.And yet at the same
time, every attempt is being made to keep us out, or at least to inconvenience
us as much as possible as we’re trying to enter 10 seconds before the
homeroom bell.I myself often
have been on the verge of lateness because someone forgot to unbar the back
door.Apparently, our lives at
the Home of Champions are too frivolous and carefree, and as part of our
training for the Real World, those in charge are constantly thinking up new
ways to introduce an occasional inconvenience or obstacle.